As Iron Sharpens Iron - Blog War?

I haven't posted in almost a week, for two reasons.

First, I have been finishing up my last week in the Army and my last week in my Master's program (this one, at least). Lots of work and little fun to be had.

The second is this - I have been reading, and responding a bit, to David's posts on, essentially, what to do when someone deletes your comments on a blog. He had three, here, here and here.

On the first, he asked my opinion on what I would do. Oddly enough (read the comments), it had happened to me in March. I didn't name the offender because I wasn't so sure they needed to be dimed out. The offender has revealed herself, and is not repentant. Furthermore, she has posted some snarky responses to my "Women in Leadership" series without linking to my posts or posting here. (She does claim a different source for her inspiration, but I'm feeling feisty).

If you read her posts, it is a cheerleader site. She only respects opinions that agree 100% with hers. Contrast this with Mark, David, or Robert, and you see the difference. Comments in opposition at the offending blog are considered "off topic" or "not about what Christ would do", or even "fighting amongst Christians" (the post my comment was deleted from). The last time I checked, Iron Sharpens Iron (Proverbs 27:17). If other Christians are not qualified to challenge our positions, then who is? I accept challenges from all comers. I don't even demand they be respectful, but here's the reason I don't need to - respect is tyically returned in the portion it is given. Snarky posts get snarky comments. I go heavy on facts, am respectful in opinion (usually...) and don't squelch dissenters.

Here's a shot of me after my black belt test:



Here's one of me, back in the day:



As you can see, I've been into combatives for a while, and I'll tell you this - you don't stay this pretty by fighting the other guy's fight.

In boxing, my fight is a points fight, not a knockout fight. This keeps me from getting smacked hard (generally) too often. I hate getting hit in the nose, and I don't want to get marked up. The method is a lot of stinging jabs to irritate the opponent into getting upset and stepping into a power punch (straight right-left hook combo is preferred). The system was fairly effective.

In martial arts, I do exactly the opposite. A lot more hard blows are thrown, so the best option is to devastate the opponent right away. Thus, my specialty is spinning kicks - the ones most likely to end the fight. With my long legs, this is pretty successful.

Jennifer's fight seems to be to sit outside the ring and yell at the opponent, claiming that they aren't good enough to fight her. She bashes fundamentalists (who I am not associated with), then uses that example to smear all conservative Christians.

If you want to discuss the issues, bring your logic to the table, and I'll bring mine. I'm standing in the middle of the ring, waiting.

But, if you want to have a cheerleading site where you only allow people to agree with you, then post it in the header. Us "thinkers and fighters" will stay away and will leave you to those who are entertained by cheerleading. We have hard thoughts to ponder, shape, and reconsider. After all, if I didn't have the few who post here to debate things with, I'd be back to talking about video games.